Biodiversity guidelines among Central Asian countries: a successful training program
Around 100 experts took part in the last three trainings on quantitative assessment of livestock's impacts on biodiversity in Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
Local experts, including veterinarians, animal scientists, researchers, journalists, and many other professionals, actively participated in the last three training sessions on livestock and biodiversity held in Central Asia. These sessions were a collaborative effort between the FAO Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership and the FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia, working synergistically to ensure the success of the event. The entire series comprised four online sessions and a one-day face-to-face workshop in each target country: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
The training was conducted using the most up-to-date version of the FAO LEAP Guidelines for the qualitative assessment of biodiversity in the livestock sector. Furthermore, during the training, additional case studies were presented, encompassing ongoing and recently published studies that implemented the concepts and methodologies introduced by the LEAP Guidelines. These case studies aimed to quantify the impacts of various livestock production practices on biodiversity at the local, regional, and global levels.
About the participants
Overall, more than 200 trainees participated in the training program. The participants represented a diverse spectrum in terms of expertise, educational background, roles, age groups, and gender diversity. The majority of attendees comprised research scholars, consultants, policymakers, land use planners, environmentalist, conservationists, livestock specialists, as well as ecologists and biodiversity specialists, with some variation across the participating countries. .
Purpose of the training
The guidelines serve as a foundational framework for robust measurement methods, enabling the assessment, comprehension, and enhancement of wild biodiversity across the entire life-cycle of livestock production. The LEAP Partnership's primary objectives include consolidating existing guidance, facilitating the dissemination of these biodiversity guidelines, gathering feedback for their refinement, and supporting their adoption and application across different scales.
The purpose of this training program was to enhance the technical capacity of local organizations and experts, enabling them to quantify the impact of livestock on biodiversity and integrate biodiversity considerations into the life-cycle impact assessment of livestock production, utilizing the LEAP Guidelines. Specifically, the program was crafted to mobilize local experts and institutions, empowering them to contribute reliable knowledge and information regarding biodiversity and other environmental outcomes associated with various livestock production systems. It aimed to address both risks and opportunities within and beyond the livestock sector.
Next Steps
Feedback received from participants in this training underscores the pressing need to develop guidelines and training programs focused on soil biodiversity and health assessment. This includes soil carbon assessment across the entire livestock production supply chain, with a specific emphasis on enhancing sustainability and environmental performance within various facets of the animal feed supply chain.